Dual-purpose vehicle

ABSTRACT

A dual-purpose vehicle for use as a spreader and as a dump truck, the vehicle having a dump body mounted on a base frame, means are provided for hinging the dump body to the base frame at alternative positions adjacent to the forward and rear ends of the base frame, and the dump body is raised about the respective hinge axis by means of a hydraulic ram operating through a toggle linkage. When the vehicle is to be used as a spreader or sander, the forward hinge is secured and the ram is operated to tilt the dump body forwards. When only the rear hinge is secured, the vehicle can be used as a conventional dump truck.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Albert Rath Kitchener, Ontario,Canada [21] Appl. No. 30,410 [22] Filed Apr. 21, 1970 [45] Patented Nov.16, 1971 [73] Assignee Eastern Steel Products Ltd.

Preston, Ontario, Canada [54] DUAL-PURPOSE VEHICLE 7 Claims, 9 DrawingFigs.

[52] US. Cl 239/657, 239/663. 298/176 [51] Int. Cl A01c 17/00 [50] Field01 Search 239/657, 663-, 298/175, 17.6, 17.8, 22 D I56| Reierences CitedUNITED STATES PATENTS 2,697,609 12/1954 Chase et a1. 239/657 2,620,22512/1952 Hutchinson 298/22 D 3,158,375 11/1964 Vig 239/657 3,189,3556/1965 Swenson et al. 239/663 X FOREIGN PATENTS 807,748 7/i95i Germany298/176 Primary Examiner-M. Henson Wood, .Ir, Assistant Examiner-John J.Love Aliorney- Maybe: 8L Legris ABSTRACT: A dual-purpose vehicle for useas a spreader and as a dump truck, the vehicle having a dump bodymounted on a base frame, means are provided for hinging the dump body tothe base frame at alternative positions adjacent to the forward and rearends of the base frame, and the dump body is raised about the respectivehinge axis by means of a hydraulic ram operating through a togglelinkage, When the vehicle is to be used as a spreader or sander, theforward hinge is secured and the ram is operated to tilt the dump bodyforwards When only the rear hinge is secured, the vehicle can be used asa conventional dump truck,

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ALBERT RATH 9 BY 7/7/41 rd uz ATTORNEYS PATENTEDunv 16 Ian SHEET 5 BF 5ATTORNEYS DUAL-PURPOSE VEHICLE This invention relates to a dual-purposevehicle which is adapted for use alternatively as a spreader or sanderand as a dump truck. Conventional spreaders or sanders have largehopperlike bodies designed for one purpose only, namely carrying saltand/or sand to be spread across a road surface during the winter months.They are expensive vehicles, but for the greater part of the year there'u no use to which they can be put in order to make them more economic.

Dual-purpose vehicles to be used as sanders and dump trucks are known,but the previously known vehicles of this type are very expensiveindeed, and because of their construction they suffer from thedisadvantage that they tend to be unstable when the dump body is in thetilted position.

According to the present invention, in a dual-purpose vehicle for use asa spreader and as a dump truck, the vehicle having a dump body mountedon a base frame, means are provided for hinging the dump body to thebase frame at alternative positions adjacent to the forward and rearends of the base frame, and the dump body is raised about the respectivehinge axis by means of a hydraulic ram operating through a togglelinkage. When the vehicle is to be used as a spreader or sander, theforward hinge is secured and the ram is operated to tilt the dump bodyforwards. When only the rear hinge is secured, the vehicle can be usedas a conventional dump truck.

In order that the invention may be readily understood, a dual-purposevehicle in accordance with the invention will now be described by way ofexample with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a fragmentary perspective view of the vehicle with the dumpbody tipped in one direction, the vehicle being used as a dump truck;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the vehicle with the dumpbody tipped in the opposite direction, the vehicle being used as aspreader;

FIG. 2a is a scrap view showing a detail of FIG. 2;

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a safety device for limitingforward tipping of the dump body;

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 are schematic diagrams of the tipping mechanism, theFigures showing the mechanism when the dump body is in its downposition, when the dump body is tipped backwards, and when the dump bodyis tipped forwards, respectively;

FIG. 7 is a general perspective view of the dump body; and

FIG. 8 is a diagram of the hydraulic circuits used to operate the ram,the feed auger and the spinner.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the dump body 1 of the vehicle is mountedon a base frame 2, which is secured to the vehicle chassis 3 by means ofbolted pairs of flanges 4 welded to the frame and the chassis. The framecomprises a pair of longitudinal frame members 5 and front and reartransverse frame members 6, 7 whose ends are disposed outside of thelongitudinal members. The rear ends of the longitudinal members areextended and are constructed to provide a pair of hinge sockets 8, 9,which are positioned to cooperate with a pair of hinge sockets I0, ii onthe underside of the dump body 1 adjacent its rear end. A pair ofupstanding lugs l2, 13 on the front transverse frame member 6 provideanother pair of hinge sockets which cooperate with the ends of a tubularmember l4 extending between two longitudinal beams 15, 16 on theunderside of the dump body I, the ends of the tube 14 forming in effectanother pair of hinge sockets cooperating with the sockets l2 and 13.When the vehicle is to be used as a dump truck in which the dump bodymay be tipped backwards, a readily removable hinge pin is inserted intothe aligned pairs of cooperating hinge sockets 8, 9 and 10, II. Thehinge pin i7 is illustrated in FIG. 1, and the chain-dot line A showsthat the same hinge pin may be inserted into the cooperating pairs ofhinged sockets formed by the lugs l2, l3 and the tube 14. It will beseen that the lug i2 is formed with a horizontally extending short pin18 which engages a hole in a plate I9 at one end of the hinge pin I7when the hinge pin is inserted in the sockets, and the hinge pin issecured by means of a retaining pin 20 which passes through a transversehole in the pin 18.

The mechanism for raising and lowering the dump body, forwards orbackwards according to the position of the hinge pin 17, comprises atoggle linkage 21 connected between the base frame 2 and the dump body Iat a position intermediate the two alternative positions of the hingepin 17. The toggle linkage comprises a pair of side members 22 mountedon a pivotal shaft 23 extending between the longitudinal members 5, apair of links 24 pivotally connected at their ends to the members 22 andthe beams l5, 16 on the underside of the dump body, and a ram 25. Theram is pivotally connected at one end to a pair of lugs 26 on the fronttransverse frame member 6, and at the other end to a crossmember 27.

The manner of operation of the toggle linkage will best be understood byreference to Figures 4, S and 6.

FIG. 4 shows the ram 25 in its retracted position pivoted at one end tothe lugs 26 on the front transverse frame member 6, and pivoted at theother end to the crossmember 27. The toggle members 22 are mounted onshaft 23 pivoted on the base frame 2, and the toggle members 24 aresecured by pivots 28 to the dump body 1, which is hinged by hinge pin 17to the base frame 2. The alternative position of the hinge pin 17 isshown by hinged socket in the lug 13.

FIG. 5 shows the manner of operation of the toggle linkage when thehinge pin 17 secures the cooperating pairs of hinge sockets at the rearend of the vehicle. Extension of the ram 25 moves the toggle linkage toraise the dump body I about the hinge pin, thus tipping the dump bodybackwards.

FIG. 6 shows the action of the toggle linkage when the hinge pin 17secures the cooperating pairs of hinge sockets at the front end of thehue frame, the ram 25 in this case acting on the toggle linkage to tipthe dump body 1 about the hinge pin in a forward direction as shown.

Referring now also to FIG. 7, the dump body itself is fitted with aconventional tail gate 30, which is pivoted to the body I at 31 and isreleasably secured by means of a pin 32 engaging a releasable latch 33operable in the well-known manner from the driver's cabin. The top ofthe dump body is covered by means of a pair of hinged grid members 34through which sand and fine material may be loaded without introducinglarge bodies. The dump body has a front wall 35 which, when the vehicleis to be used as a sander or spreader, slopes backwards in the mannershown in FIG. 7. The front wall 35 may be moved to a vertical positionwhen the vehicle is used as a conventional dump truck, the wall beingformed with a pair of end plates (not shown) which are adapted to formforward extensions of the sidewalls of the dump body. Within the dumpbody I immediately adjacent to its front end is a feed auger 36 mountedon a rotatable shaft 37 which is driven by a hydraulic motor 38 througha chain and sprocket drive 39. The auger feeds salt, sand or the like inthe direction shown by arrow B in FIG. 7 towards a gate 40 through whichthe material drops onto a chute 41. The chute 41 guides the materialonto a spinner 42 which is rotated by a vertical shaft 43 driven by ahydraulic motor 44. The motor 44 is mounted on a support member 45 andis adjustable in a transverse direction with respect to the base frame,for which purpose a short horizontal slot 46 is formed near one end ofthe member 6, and a clamp member 47 is provided. Hydraulic connectionsfor the motors 38 and 44 are shown at 48 and 49 respectively.

The gate 40 is adjustable by means of a laterally adjustable closureplate 50 mounted on a cross pin 51, the plate being set to its adjustedposition by means of a bolt through cooperating holes in the plate 50and a flange 53 at the rear end of the dump body.

A particular advantage of the present construction is that the auger 36,the spinner 42, and the ram 25 are all operated hydraulically, enablinga line adjustment of the spinner and auger speeds.

Referring to FIG. 8, a hydraulic pump 55 draws hydraulic fluid from atank 56 and delivers it via a line 57 to a directional control valve 58and thence to a flow regulator 54. A return pipe from the flow regulator54 to the tank 56 is indicated at $9. The spinner motor 44 receives itshydraulic supply from the regulator 54 by a line 60, the regulatorproviding an infinite adjustment of the hydraulic supply and motorspeed.

Similarly, the auger motor 38 receives its hydraulic supply from theflow regulator 54, and is infinitely adjustable thereby.

The ram 25 is connected between an outlet of the directional controlvalve 58 and the tank 56. It should be mentioned that the lines 60 tothe spinner motor and 61 to the auger motor include detachable hoses andhose adapters by which these items may be readily removed when they arenot required.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a forked member 62 (also shown in FIG. 1)extends down from the underside of the dump body near its front end, andthis fork member is adapted to engage a stop 63 fitted on a link 64extending between a driver's control lever 65 and a safety valve 66. Thelever 62 is also connected by a link 67 to one of the upper togglemembers 24. When the dump body is raised in a forward direction, theforked member 62 engages the link 64, and the movement of the togglelinkage is such that the link 67 is pulled backwards, thus pulling theforked member 62 against the stop 63 and moving the latter backwards.When a limit position is reached the valve 66 is closed, shutting offthe supply of hydraulic fluid to the ram and at the same time pullingthe control lever 65 to the position shown in full lines in FIG. 3.

The construction described above provides a vehicle which may be readilyconverted from a dump truck to a sander or spreader, or vice versa. Asingle removable hinge pin is used to secure the cooperating pairs ofhinge sockets at either the front end or the rear end of the vehicle. Noadjustment of the toggle linkage or ram is necessary, in order to affectthe conversion, apart from ensuring that the hoses providing thehydraulic connections to the ram are positioned to allow for the fullmovement of the dump body.

What [Claim as my Invention is: claim l. in a dual-purpose vehicleadapted for use alternatively as a spreader and a dump truck:

a. a base frame secured to the vehicle chassis, the base framecomprising longitudinal and transverse frame members and having frontand rear ends;

. a dump body mounted on the base frame;

c. first means providing a releasable hinge connection between the baseframe and the dump body at a position adjacent the rear end of the baseframe;

d. second means providing a releasable hinge connection between the baseframe and the dump body at a position adjacent the front end of the baseframe;

e. means for securing said first and second means alternatively topermit pivotal movement of the dump body about respective transverseaxis at said positions;

f. a toggle linkage connected between the base frame and the dump body,at a position intermediate said positions, and

g. a hydraulic ram pivotally connected at one end to the base frame andat the other end to the toggle linkage for actuating the toggle linkagewhereby to permit pivotal movement of the dump body about one or othertransverse asis according to which of the hinge connections is secured.

2. A dual-purpose vehicle according to claim 1, in which each of saidfirst and second means comprises cooperating pairs of hinge sockets onthe base frame and the dump body, and the means for securing said firstand second means is a removable hinge pin adapted to be inserted intothe cooperating pairs of hinge sockets at either of said positions.

3. In a dual-purpose vehicle adapted for use alternatively as a spreaderand a dump truck:

a. a base frame secured to the vehicle chassis, the base framecomprising longitudinal and transverse frame members and having frontand rear ends;

b. a dump body mounted on the base frame" c. first means providing areleasable hinge connection between the base frame and the dump body ata position adjacent the rear end of the base frame;

d. second means providing a releasable hinge connection between the baseframe and the dump body at a position adjacent the front end of the baseframe;

e. means for securing said first and second means alternatively topermit pivotal movement of the dump body about respective transverseaxis at said positions;

f. a toggle linkage connected between the base frame and the dump body,at a position intermediate said positions;

g. a hydraulic ram pivotally connected at one end to the base frame, andat the other end to the toggle linkage for actuating the toggle linkagewhereby to permit pivotal movement of the dump body about one or othertransverse axis according to which of the hinge connections is secured.

h. a feed auger extending transversely within the dump body at aposition adjacent its forward end;

i. a first hydraulic motor for driving the feed auger;

j. a door or gate in the base of the dump body, the door or gate beingpositioned to receive granular material fed by the feed auger;

k. a spinner mounted below the dump body;

I. a second hydraulic motor for driving the spinner;

m. a chute extending downwardly from the door or gate to delivergranular material therefrom onto the spinner, and

n. means for connecting the hydraulic motors and ram to a hydraulicfluid supply.

4. A dual-purpose vehicle according to claim 3, including first andsecond adjustable valve means for regulating the supply of hydraulicfluid to the first and second hydraulic motors whereby to control theoperating speeds of the motors.

5. A dual-purpose vehicle according to claim 4, wherein the valve meansare continuously adjustable for controlling said operating speeds over acontinuous range.

6. A dual-purpose vehicle according to claim 3, in which the spinner ismounted on a vertical rotatable shaft extending from the secondhydraulic motor, the motor being mounted on a support member which isadjustable in a transverse direction with respect to the base frame.

7. A dual-purpose vehicle according to claim 3, including a safety valvefor preventing the supply of hydraulic fluid to the ram, and a linkconnected between the valve and the toggle linkage, the link beingmovable with the dump body and operable to actuate the valve when thedump body reaches a predetermined limiting position.

6 i i t i

1. In a dual-purpose vehicle adapted for use alternatively as a spreaderand a dump truck: a. a base frame secured to the vehicle chassis, thebase frame comprising longitudinal and transverse frame members andhaving front and rear ends; b. a dump body mounted on the base frame; c.first means providing a releasable hinge connection betweEn the baseframe and the dump body at a position adjacent the rear end of the baseframe; d. second means providing a releasable hinge connection betweenthe base frame and the dump body at a position adjacent the front end ofthe base frame; e. means for securing said first and second meansalternatively to permit pivotal movement of the dump body aboutrespective transverse axis at said positions; f. a toggle linkageconnected between the base frame and the dump body, at a positionintermediate said positions, and g. a hydraulic ram pivotally connectedat one end to the base frame and at the other end to the toggle linkagefor actuating the toggle linkage whereby to permit pivotal movement ofthe dump body about one or other transverse axis according to which ofthe hinge connections is secured.
 2. A dual-purpose vehicle according toclaim 1, in which each of said first and second means comprisescooperating pairs of hinge sockets on the base frame and the dump body,and the means for securing said first and second means is a removablehinge pin adapted to be inserted into the cooperating pairs of hingesockets at either of said positions.
 3. In a dual-purpose vehicleadapted for use alternatively as a spreader and a dump truck: a. a baseframe secured to the vehicle chassis, the base frame comprisinglongitudinal and transverse frame members and having front and rearends; b. a dump body mounted on the base frame; c. first means providinga releasable hinge connection between the base frame and the dump bodyat a position adjacent the rear end of the base frame; d. second meansproviding a releasable hinge connection between the base frame and thedump body at a position adjacent the front end of the base frame; e.means for securing said first and second means alternatively to permitpivotal movement of the dump body about respective transverse axis atsaid positions; f. a toggle linkage connected between the base frame andthe dump body, at a position intermediate said positions; g. a hydraulicram pivotally connected at one end to the base frame, and at the otherend to the toggle linkage for actuating the toggle linkage whereby topermit pivotal movement of the dump body about one or other transverseaxis according to which of the hinge connections is secured. h. a feedauger extending transversely within the dump body at a position adjacentits forward end; i. a first hydraulic motor for driving the feed auger;j. a door or gate in the base of the dump body, the door or gate beingpositioned to receive granular material fed by the feed auger; k. aspinner mounted below the dump body; l. a second hydraulic motor fordriving the spinner; m. a chute extending downwardly from the door orgate to deliver granular material therefrom onto the spinner, and n.means for connecting the hydraulic motors and ram to a hydraulic fluidsupply.
 4. A dual-purpose vehicle according to claim 3, including firstand second adjustable valve means for regulating the supply of hydraulicfluid to the first and second hydraulic motors whereby to control theoperating speeds of the motors.
 5. A dual-purpose vehicle according toclaim 4, wherein the valve means are continuously adjustable forcontrolling said operating speeds over a continuous range.
 6. Adual-purpose vehicle according to claim 3, in which the spinner ismounted on a vertical rotatable shaft extending from the secondhydraulic motor, the motor being mounted on a support member which isadjustable in a transverse direction with respect to the base frame. 7.A dual-purpose vehicle according to claim 3, including a safety valvefor preventing the supply of hydraulic fluid to the ram, and a linkconnected between the valve and the toggle linkage, the link beingmovable with the dump body and operable to actuate the valve when thedump body reaches a predetermined limiting position.